The late Heinz Prinz gave us insight into the motivations of the Germans who left the Sieg Valley in 1713. At the time, the government of Nassau-Orange was divided between two Princes, one Catholic and one Protestant. Both had their seat in the town of Siegen, but this did not indicate any closeness on their part. In fact, the feeling between these two princes was bitter. The Catholic Prince, William Hyazinth, banned the delivery of charcoal to the Protestant areas in the Siegerland, which brought ironworking to a halt. He also attempted to ban the sale of iron products.
After the death of William III of England, Hyazinth claimed to be the heir to the throne of England, and often visited the monarchs of other countries in hopes of official recognition. This program of travel, and the high standard of living that Hyazinth tried to maintain at the Upper Castle in Siegen, were expensive and required taxes to be constantly increased. The Protestant Prince of Nassau-Siegen, Adolf, was reconstructing the Lower Castle, which had burned in 1695. This led to increased taxes on his subjects.
In 1706, while Hyazinth was in Vienna, some of his subjects rebelled. On his return, Hyazinth seized Friedrich Flender, who was thought to be one of the leaders of the miners in Weidenau. Flender was taken to the Upper Castle, convicted without a trial, and beheaded. The Emperor removed Hyazinth and turned the administration of the Catholic regions to the Archbishops of Cologne. This placed the Catholic Siegerland under the administration of the Jesuits. Living conditions in the Protestant parts remained poor. In May of 1712, the Imperial Guards of the Upper Castle clashed with those of the Lower Castle. Cannon fire was exchanged, which resulted in several civilian and military deaths.
The living conditions of the miners and ironworkers at the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, which influenced the general population also, became worse and worse due to the political, economical, and religious circumstances. There was a high unemployment rate. When Johann Justus Albrecht appeared in 1710, promising jobs in America, this represented a great employment opportunity. Initially, they were to mine silver for the George Ritter Company, but their efforts were redirected by Alexander Spotswood, first, to mining silver for him and, second, to finding and mining iron ore.
One individual or family had a different motivation. The Rev. Henry Haeger had a son already in New York and the family wished to join him there. This decision to try to go to America was made as early as 1711. In fact, the Haeger family did not leave Nassau-Siegen at the same time as the other emigrants, but went slightly before the others left.
(04 Nov 04)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.